Memo to Mayor Johnson

1. Be
yourself
If anyone in your team suggests "a makeover" or "Boris 2.0", fire
them. Authenticity - the hope that you may not be acting - is the
absolute essence of your appeal. Only those who know you best (and
perhaps not even them) can say whether your
Wodehouse-meets-Giuliani persona is the real you. My hunch is that
you are a much more complex, introspective individual than the
political and journalistic character with which we are all so
familiar. But it's that character the public loves. Stick with
it.

2.
Remember the rules of the game
You are preparing for the premiership like a Roman politician
seeking acclamation from the crowd. But you and I have discussed
the great dictum of Sir Ronald Syme, the ancient historian, that
all regimes are oligarchies. To get the top job, you have to become
Conservative leader first, which means getting past the men and
women in the grey suits. You know who I'm talking about: the
cabinet ministers who were quietly briefing against you at the
party conference in Birmingham. The ruling elite of the Tory party
has an institutional resentment of talent and of stardom. Your
hardest task will be to win over these grumbling oligarchs. Which
means you must...

3. Build
a following in the parliamentary party
You have many admirers on the backbenches. But not enough of them.
The 2010 intake of Tory MPs is strong-willed and precocious. Once
Dave has gone, the party may think the Cameron-Osborne-Johnson era
of Bullingdon boys is over and give the younger generation a try.
Woo them all: Young Turks, greybeards and everyone in between. Find
an excuse to invite every Tory MP to City Hall, and hug close as
many constituency candidates as you can. Which reminds me...

4. Get
elected to the Commons
This won't be a problem. The key is timing. You don't have to wait
until your second mayoral term ends in 2016 - and you shouldn't. As
a world-class multitasker, you could simultaneously handle the care
of a constituency and the management of the greatest city on earth.
Ken Livingstone remained MP for Brent East until 2001 after his
election as mayor in 2000 - so there's no impediment in the rules
to you standing in the 2015 general election or an earlier
by-election. But be aware: from the moment you announce your
candidacy for a seat in the Commons, it will be universally assumed
that you are plotting to bring down and replace Cameron. Which
means taking pre-emptive action now...

5. Become a
loyalty machine
As you have said, there are necessarily occasions when, as London
mayor, you will be in civilised conflict with central government.
Heathrow's third runway is only the most obvious area of
disagreement. The trouble is that you are a local politician in
name only (during the Olympics you had a global profile - and you
still do). So when you say that the Government's policies are
leading to "economic catastrophe" the week before Dave's big
conference speech, tempers in Number Ten do fray. Worse, the party
and the public wonder whether your objections are patriotic or
merely driven by ambition. Everybody knows the areas where you and
Cameron differ: aviation, immigration, some aspects of benefit
reform, Europe, the "broken society". After all, you tell us in
your must-read weekly Telegraph column. So, between now
and the election, shift the emphasis to Labour killing. Become the
Tory party's most feared weapon, turning your fire relentlessly on
Miliband, Balls and co. Prove once and for all that your greatest
loyalty is to the party rather than to yourself. Like me, you love
The Godfather: until the general election be the Tory Luca
Brasi, the man whom the enemy fears more than any other. In the
movie, of course, Luca ends up sleeping with the fishes. But in
your case this strategy is the best way of ensuring you become the
Don.